Sports wire

Thursday

Jan 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMJan 31, 2008 at 12:29 PM

Boxing African National Congress leader cancels appearance with Tyson

African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma withdrew from a charity fundraising banquet in Johannesburg, South Africa, honoring former boxer Mike Tyson yesterday after being criticized by women's groups in South Africa.

Boxing African National Congress leader cancels appearance with Tyson

African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma withdrew from a charity fundraising banquet in Johannesburg, South Africa, honoring former boxer Mike Tyson yesterday after being criticized by women's groups in South Africa.

In a country with one of the highest rates of rape, Zuma was found not guilty of raping a family friend two years ago. Tyson served a three-year sentence for the 1991 rape of an 18-year-old beauty queen in Indiana.

The One in Nine Campaign, a group of women's rights organizations, had called "the pairing of Zuma and Tyson particularly distasteful and abhorrent."

Legal file Former Bengal Pete Johnson pleads not guilty in check case

Former Cincinnati Bengals fullback Pete Johnson has pleaded not guilty to accusations that he wrote a bad check for $13,300 to buy a pickup truck in Urbana, Ohio.

Johnson, 53, was arraigned Tuesday in Champaign County Common Pleas Court and released on bond.

Johnson played for the Bengals from 1977 to 1983. He was part of four Big Ten championship teams while at Ohio State in the 1970s.

• Montreal police have issued an arrest warrant for former hockey star Guy Lafleur, accused of giving contradictory evidence as a witness at his son's bail hearing. Lafleur is expected to turn himself over to police Friday.

• A former athletic manager for Hofstra University's football team said in a federal discrimination lawsuit that players sexually harassed her repeatedly.

Lauren Summa, a 23-year-old graduate student, said her complaints to coaches and university officials went unheeded, and she was dropped from the team's athletic staff after speaking out.

Baseball Indians' Sabathia favors expanding drug testing

C.C. Sabathia of the Cleveland Indians would welcome expanded drug testing in baseball.

"Bring it on," he said. "They can test me whenever. I have no problem with that."

Sabathia, the American League Cy Young Award winner, was in Guthrie, Okla., to receive the Warren Spahn Award, presented to baseball's best left-handed pitcher by the Oklahoma Sports Museum.

He said he has nothing to hide and wouldn't object to any changes in Major League Baseball's testing program, including offseason drug tests, blood testing for human growth hormone or freezing urine or blood samples for testing in the future.

• The Clippers have named Rick Eckstein as their hitting coach. Last season, he was the hitting coach for the triple-A Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League.

College football Tennessee's Fulmer says guard will face discipline for arrest

Parker was charged with disorderly conduct Saturday morning after an off-duty Knoxville police officer responded to a crowd in an apartment parking lot. Everyone at the scene was asked to leave and Parker was arrested after he did not comply.